Enhancing Young Learners’ Engagement through Multimodal and Digital Pedagogy in Teaching Emotions

Abstract

Teaching emotional vocabulary to young learners requires engaging and meaningful learning experiences. Traditional vocabulary instruction often relies on memorization, which may reduce students’ interest and participation. Therefore, integrating multimodal and digital pedagogical approaches can provide a more interactive learning environment. This study explores the use of multimodal activities combined with digital media to enhance student engagement in learning emotions in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach based on classroom teaching practice with young learners. The lesson was designed using various learning modes, including animated videos, visual images, physical activities, and interactive digital quizzes. Students watched a short animated clip from Inside Out to introduce emotions, followed by discussion, vocabulary introduction, a matching activity, and a digital quiz using the ESL Video platform. Data were collected through classroom observation, teaching documentation, and reflective analysis. The findings indicate that multimodal and digital approaches increased student engagement, participation, and motivation. Students showed greater enthusiasm in identifying emotions, answering questions, and expressing their feelings in simple English sentences. These findings suggest that multimodal and digital pedagogies support more interactive and meaningful vocabulary learning for young learners.